We’d heard of Australia, of course: that it was a land of great surfing, sharks of unfortunate size, Vegemite (?!), and friendly people carrying very large knives. But until a few years ago, no one told us about all the great Australian craft brewing happening, much of it done by our friends at Mountain Goat Beer. They’ve been going strong for 18+ years, and they like to say that “a mountain goat is a big hairy animal that’s never gonna fall over.” Clearly our kind of people, but we needed to knowmore. So, Brooklyn brewer Al Duvall and lab manager Tom Price went down to Australia to visit Mountain Goat and collaboratively brew the cross-breed named Hopfweizenbock.

Now it’s the Goat Crew’s turn for the 24-hour airplane trips to Brooklyn, as we bring you Ridgy-Didge, a strong saison with a distinctly Australian edge. We start the party with malt and a little candy sugar, and then rev it up with two native Australian flavors—startlingly aromatic lemon myrtle leaves, and kicky Tasmanian pepperberries. After fermentation by our house Belgian yeast, the final touch is a light dry-hopping with the Australian hop variety Super Pride of Ringwood. The tasty result is a honey-colored beer with a lean, dry, hoppy palate and a bright, refreshingly lemony finish. This beer is a superstar at the summer dinner table, especially with grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon, and burgers.

Ridgy-Didge? Lemon myrtle? Tasmanian pepperberry? Super Pride of Ringwood? You can’t make this stuff up, and we wouldn’t dare to try. That’s because we’re Ridgy-Didge too, mates. And we’ve been there and back.